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Upgrading HD 4670, $100 budget, or less costly cooling solution

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hello All,

The reason for the upgrade is simply because the fan on the 4670 has stopped working, which means no playing 3D games.

I had preliminarily decided on the HD 5670, but noticed it only has 1 x DVI output. The cables to both of my monitors (only 17") are both DVI, so I am wanting to get a card with 2 x DVI outputs.

My current specifications are as follows:

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within 2 weeks.

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Photoshop CS5 x64 (as well as the rest of the Adobe Master Collection CS5), 3D gaming (Oblivion, AOE, FSX).

CURRENT GPU: HD 4670 512 MB GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127383

POWER SUPPLY: OCZ Game Extreme 600W: Part No.: OCZ600GXSSLI.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341001

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
M/B: Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R
OS: Windows 7 Professional (x64)
Proc: E8400 3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo
RAM: DDR3 1333MHz, 8 GB
Graphics: MSI ATI HD 4670 GDDR3 512 MB
Monitors: SyncMaster 731B & 740B
Stock Cooling

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, TigerDirect, Amazon, any place with little or no shipping and no taxes applied.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Washington State, USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Does not really matter, though NVIDIA cards have special compatibility with some applications in Master Collection CS5 (http://www.nvidia.com/object/builtforadobepros.html)

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024 (both)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: If upgrading, then would like a card that can play nicely with DirectX 11.

I am not certain how long the graphics card I have will last due to the higher-than-normal temperatures, but if there is a low-cost solution for replacing the fan on my current HD 4670, I would certainly consider it.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you,
edsager

P.S. I forgot to mention that to utilize the graphics acceleration settings in Photoshop, the graphics card must:

support OpenGL, have at least 256 MB of RAM, and have a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0 (see the following:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404898.html
Adobe Tested Video Cards

More about : upgrading 4670 100 budget costly cooling solution

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Graphics card Master

I can't give you any suggestion if you really only has $100...
HD5670 or GT240 is suited for your budget but that's not consider as upgrade, you will notice a little performance increase...
How about save your money and get GTX460, i'm pretty sue you can maxed out anything with that card at 1280x1024 and good for 3D tasks like Video editing or Photoshop...

Best solution

Graphics card Expert

small upgrade to a gt240 which has the 2 dvi outputs for $99.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

if you can spare $15 more you can get the gts250 also with the 2 dvi outputs and free starcraft 2 trail coupon.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

for $119.99 theres the gts450, again with the 2 dvi outputs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

for $129.99 (stretching the budget but $114.99 with mail in rebate) you can get the HD5750 with 2 dvi outputs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

another card for $129.99 ($99.99 with mail in rebate) is the HD4870 with 2 dvi outputs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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Graphics card Master

Or edsager could just use cable ties to hold a suitably sized case fan to the existing heatsink-crude but very effective ;)  Do n't forget to cut the old fan blades off, though, or they'll block and misdirect the airflow.
For a DX11 upgrade you'll need to look to (in order of price and performance) GTX460, HD5770 or GTS450.
Take a look at this helpful review that compares them all:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/geforce-gts-450-gf106-rad...
Graphics card Master

HDMI video signal is the same as DVI-D and cables that go from one to the other are pretty cheap (3 or 4 bucks on ebay, 6 bucks at newegg) so don't be scared off by a card that only has one DVI output.

benski said:
HDMI video signal is the same as DVI-D and cables that go from one to the other are pretty cheap (3 or 4 bucks on ebay, 6 bucks at newegg) so don't be scared off by a card that only has one DVI output.


I had no idea the HDMI is the same as the DVI-D. If we factor in about $10 for the cable , what do people think about the 5670?

I think it would only be a small upgrade, but seems to be capable of handling what I have going right now. And then, when more money is available, I can invest in larger monitors and a better graphics card.

However, I am leaning towards infernox_01's suggestion of the GeForce GT 240.

I really like coozie7's idea of the case fan with cable ties, but I am concerned with potential rattling.

What do you think?

Thank you all for your responses. They have been extremely helpful.

Thanks,
edsager

As mentioned, HD5670 or GT240 are not overly powerful.
There are many different HD5670s that have 2 x DVI outputs - you just stumbled across one specific model that offers only a single DVI.
Find a different brand that has 2 x DVI if that's what you require...
If you want DX11 you need GTX460 1GB or HD5850 minimum.
HD5770 or GTX460 768MB won't cut it,
L8R
Graphics card Expert

the 5670 is faster then the gt240. i was only suggested cards with the 2xdvi outputs, there are alot more options for 1xhdmi and 1xdvi.

heres a cheaper gt240 thats $79.99 or $49.99 with mail-in rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

theres also a gts250 with free starcraft 2 trial coupon thats $99.99 or $79.99 with mail-in rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

theres a hd4850 for $94.99 or $79.99 after mail-in rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

thats the best i can find for under $100.

infernox_01 said:
small upgrade to a gt240 which has the 2 dvi outputs for $99.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

if you can spare $15 more you can get the gts250 also with the 2 dvi outputs and free starcraft 2 trail coupon.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

for $119.99 theres the gts450, again with the 2 dvi outputs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

for $129.99 (stretching the budget but $114.99 with mail in rebate) you can get the HD5750 with 2 dvi outputs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

another card for $129.99 ($99.99 with mail in rebate) is the HD4870 with 2 dvi outputs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Well, I ended up getting the GTS 450 for $124.99 after rebate.

If I had waited just 1 day, I could have purchased the same model from Gigabyte (or a slightly more expensive version from Gigabyte) for less with a bit longer of a warranty on labor. Oh well.

Such is the nature of purchasing.

Thank you all for your assistance.

edsager
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